Month: May 2013

Keep an eye on your garden because with all this rain, plants including weeds are growing very fast. The good thing is, weeding is easy. The weeds grow very quickly and fail to root very deeply because water comes every day. If you concentrate on pulling the weeds now (maybe you don’t have any weeds), the root systems are very weak and whole plants are extracted with roots much more easily than a drought situation when plants grow deep roots to survive. Try gently to get the WHOLE plant.

Another problem is that your perennial flower garden plants may also grow fast and the soft stems fall over. For plants blooming now, like tall German iris, counter that problem with single stakes to keep the heavy blooms upright. Use old panty hose cut in strips or other soft cloth to give them some support. These can be removed when you cut back the spent blooms. Old fashioned peonies need rings to hold up the heavy blooms but the newer varieties, like Coral Charm, are bred with stiffer stems and stand up nicely on their own. Stakes in a ring or short teepee joined with string keep flowers from flopping but tailor the stakes so they are about 2/3 of the plant height, tie loosely and the foliage will hide the support. Garden lilies may need a stake but take care not to stab the bulb with the stake. Tie softly with a figure eight around the stem and around the stake, possibly high and low. Leave some wiggle room so a stiff breeze doesn’t snap off the stem.

For plants that will bloom later, now is the time to slow them down by snipping off the top growth. This technique is called pinching and can be done with a fingernail, pruners, scissors or hedge clippers. Traditionally garden chrysanthemums are pinched every 2 to 3 weeks until July to make them bushy, floriferous mounds. Cushion mums do not need this treatment. The same thing works on garden phlox…cut them with a hedge clipper by one half and they will branch and stay low and sturdy. Your plants may bloom later but the display will be much improved. Large sedums grow fast and tall and then flop. Use stakes or cut them back to grow more compactly.

Shrubs are growing wildly. You can prune now for shrubs that have already bloomed. Trim spent blooms from the lilacs and remove 1/3 of the oldest stems. Next year do the same and again the year after and in three years you will have a renewed lilac and still have flowers each year on the older stems.
Viburnums also benefit from pruning after blooming but you will lose the berries from the pruned branches. Spiraea (Bridal wreath & relatives) and forsythia naturally form a fountain shape. If they become unwieldy, prune them back two feet shorter than you want, right after they bloom and in several weeks the stubby look will be covered with foliage and be a smaller shrub.

Extend the bloom of the spring flowers like columbine, larkspur, and dianthus by snipping the spent blooms (not stem) which encourages the lower buds to open. This works on plants you purchased in full bloom and suddenly look a bit shaggy. They continue to bloom but they look better and bloom more quickly if you trim off the dead flowers to prevent the plant from using energy to make seeds.

I recently saw two different wildflowers with the same common-name, “snakeroot,” in bloom in the forest along the Illinois river.

The first snakeroot is commonly present in the woods, but for many years I walked right by this plant oblivious of its inconspicuous greenish-yellow flowers. It’s common name is BLACK SNAKEROOT and its scientific name is Sanicula canadensis.

Double click on photos below to see larger image

Umbels of flowers on Black Snakeroot

The ball-like clusters of greenish flowers are called umbels held on stems of differing lengths. Due to its umbel arrangement of flowers, the Black Snakeroot (Sanicula canadensis) is placed in the Parsley Family (Umbelliferae) along with other plants with umbrellalike clusters of flowers. In Latin “sanare” means “to heal.” This species was thought to be useful in healing snakebites, and its rhizome was used as an astringent, an expectorant, and as a gargle for throat irritations according to William E. Werner, Jr., in his Life And Lore of Illinois Wildflowers.

The second snakeroot plant I saw recently is not commonly present, but when it is in flower, it is conspicuous by the presence of oblong clusters of small white flowers.

There are several common names for this plant: SNAKEROOT,WHITE BANEBERRY, DOLLS-EYES,WHITE COHOSH, TOADROOT, NECKLACE WEED, and WHITE HEADS. The plant’s scientific name is Actaepachypoda. In Latin the species name, pachypoda, means thick footed and refers to the thick stems which bear the flowers and fruit. This plant is bushy and grows about two feet tall.

Ivory colored berries form with a purple spot at the end which resemble doll’s eyes. The berries contain five to ten seeds and are poisonous.

I love the tropical feel of big leaved plants around my pool. This year I planted four different types of elephant ears in addition to nine large banana plants. Elephant ears make a statement in the garden with their larger than life leaves. In my garden, they are at one end of my pool in front of a picket fence, which is the direct line of sight from our main sitting area.

There are three or more types of plants available under the common name of elephant ear. Most commonly found are the colocasia, alocasia, and xanthosoma.

Colocasia, also called tara, has large, heart-shaped leaves that range from six inches to eight feet long. The petiole (leaf stem) of this plant is attached under the leaf, below the leave’s notch; whereas the petiole of the other two types (alocasia and xanthosoma) is located at the leaf notch.

Alocasia grows 8-10 feet tall with 3 feet long leaves. This plant comes in many sizes, shapes, and leaf colors. The ones I see most often are glossy dark green with prominent white veins.

Xanthosoma is said to have leaves so large that a small child can hide behind them. They too come in many different leaf colors. They will grow 6-8 feet tall.

My garden this summer includes a ‘Mojito’ colocasia. ‘Mojito’ has a green leaf with splotches of purple, black and chartreuse. Its stems are multicolored too. The leaves should grow to 2 feet long with the entire plant reaching 4 feet tall.

I also have a small colocasia elephant ear called Bikini-tini. It has deep green leaves with dark purple stems. It is said to grow 5-6 feet tall, but I’ve had this in my garden for two years and it never grows over 2 feet tall. This year I plan to water it more and give it weekly nitrogen fertilizer. Hopefully it will respond with larger leaves on a taller plant.

All elephant ears prefer full sun and typically like a lot of water. They also need a lot of food to grow, so weekly applications of high nitrogen liquid fertilizer is recommended. In the fall, you can dig the roots up after a light frost has killed back the top of the plant. Store the roots in a cool, dark area all winter. In the spring, start them early inside to give them a jump start on summer growth. Some elephant ears can also be grown as houseplants during the winter.

Learn more about these and other tropic plants on the University of Illinois Extension Tropical Punch! website at http://urbanext.illinois.edu/tropicalpunch/.

I invite you to come see my elephant ears during the Havana Garden Walk on June 9th from 1-4 pm. Begin the walk at the Mason County Fairgrounds where you’ll pay a fee and receive a map to eight gardens, including mine. The fairgrounds are located on 4-H Road, just off Rt. 97 going south out of Havana.

The Wild Geranium, Geranium maculatum, is a very pretty wildflower currently in bloom in the forest. This geranium is classified as one of the Cranesbill geraniums. I finally saw for myself why it is called “Cranesbill.” When the Wild Geranium’s fruit capsule started to enlarge in the more mature flowers, I could see its similarity in shape to a Crane’s Bill.

Note some aphids on the fruit capsule.The fruit capsule looks like the shape of a Crane’s bill .

Drawing of cranesbill fruit capsule after the five sections have launched the five seeds

The Wild Geranium’s seed dispersal mechanism is very cool. There are five sections of the “bill” portion of the fruit. These remain attached at the tip of the capsule while hurling the five seeds some distance from the fruit.

I will be looking for evidence of this seed launching device since I’ve never seen one throw the seed or after the seed leaves.

Jeers to bright and sunny, gentle weather on a Sunday afternoon. I am not up to talking about anything negative like plant problems or bad weather. So I will just chat about what makes me happy.

Your county Extension offers programs to the community in the spring and late summer on subjects that relate to gardening for that season. So far there have been programs, called telenets, hosted by U of I horticulturist on tomatoes, spruce diseases, and the effects of the past drought. Call your Extension office and ask what subjects are coming. The programs are usually one hour long.

If you are on the web go to your county’s Extension site and also to your county Master Gardener’s site. On the MG’s site you will find all the projects your county MGs are involved in, all to make a better community. The county Extension site details subjects, e.g. 4H, agriculture, child and family life etc. plus horticulture and gardening. There is a wealth of information on many topics. When at the site take a good look around, the very first page is all about links to subjects you find most interesting. Don’t leave any link unexplored.

I have favorite internet sites that seem to provide reliable information. A web site ending in edu is always good. Botanical gardens, e.g. missouribotanicalgardens.org or chicagobotanic.org are good (in the search window put in ‘plant information’ or words that are even more specific like plant disease on hosta . Use google or Bing to search a topic. The first page of hits seems to provide the best sites but there are usually pages following that may or may not be as pertinent. There are other sites maintained by plant associations or organizations, e.g. Dave’s Garden.com, that are informative and reliable.

If you don’t find the internet your style, call your county Extension office and ask for printed information, ask to speak to a master gardener or the multi county horticulturist. The U.I. Plant Clinic, for a fee, will diagnose a suspected plant disease or problem. Your county Extension office will give you directions. They can also give you the how to and where to on soil sampling, insect identification, lawn care which is a big topic for most us and so much more.